Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith warns the Gunners about the dangers of underestimating Mansfield Town
Veteran striker Alan Smith knows only too well the danger of Arsenal underestimating Mansfield this weekend.
Smith was part of the Arsenal side who famously fell victim to one of the great FA Cup shocks when they were beaten 2-1 in the third round by lowly Wrexham in 1992.
On the face of it the Welsh minnows, who had finished bottom of the Football League the season before, had no hope against the reigning First Division champions.
It seemed even more so when a Smith goal gave the Londoners a 1-0 half-time lead.
But plucky Wrexham somehow defied the odds to score twice in the last ten minutes and complete one of the greatest ever FA Cup upsets.
“Mansfield’s win at Burnley and Macclesfield beating Palace just show you that these shock results can still happen, even today,” said Smith.
“That was a funny game against Wrexham, we didn’t actually play badly and then got hit wham bam right at the end.
“We had a goal disallowed at the end, and no one to this day can figure out why it was disallowed – Jimmy Carter scored.
“At the end, the gaffer just said get in that shower quick, let’s be on the bus in 10 minutes and let’s get out of here, so it was that kind of attitude towards it.
“We actually broke down on the way back to London as well, so it wasn’t a great day, but yeah, cup shocks can still happen, which is a great thing.”
And although Smith expects Arsenal to safely progress, he knows they cannot afford to take Stags lightly.
“Your biggest challenge in these games, or the biggest threat, is complacency if you’re one of the big teams,” added Smith.
“But, with Arsenal, I’m sure they’ll try and freshen it up so that you’ve got players in there that don’t normally play and so they’re trying to catch the manager’s eye.
That’s a good way of avoiding complacency, but it's easy to go into these games thinking, well, we’ve just got to turn up, and we’re going to win.
Smith, who scored 115 times for the Londoners, gave his thoughts during an interview with BestBettingSites. You can read more on his FA Cup fifth round predictions here.
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